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Your Atomic Self: The
Invisible Elements That Connect You to Everything Else in the UniverseCurt StagerReviewed by Kathy Hare

In this “Age
of Technology,” parents want their children to have the best science
education possible so they can obtain good jobs in the future. It isn’t
difficult to get young children interested in science; they have a
natural curiosity about their world, endlessly asking “why?” until
even the most patient parents want to scream!
By high school, teenagers
have moved on to other interests. As science courses become more
rigorous, requiring a great deal of memorization, many students lose
interest because they cannot grasp the relevance between those dry facts
and the amazing world we occupy. But never fear, “Your Atomic Self: The
invisible elements that connect you to everything else in the Universe,”
by Curt Stager, connects the dots, making science relevant. Best of all,
Stager’s writing style and vocabulary is designed to enlighten, not
intimidate. That’s why I’m recommending this book for all teachers,
teenagers and adults, because without a basic understanding of science
we are little more than the cavemen who came before us.
Stager begins by
acknowledging that some of the “facts” stated in this book may someday
be found to be falsehoods. He uses the definition of an atom to
illustrate his point. For over 2500 years people thought atoms were the
smallest particles in existence; the Greeks called them “indivisibles,”
because they believed an atom could not be split. The first atomic bomb
proved that theory to be wrong. Today, new subatomic particles are being
discovered with the aid of the “Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.”
Such is the nature of science, new discoveries reveal the unknown and
correct our misconceptions.
This book doesn’t cover
the entire Periodic Table of Elements. Instead, Stager concentrates on
the most abundant elements, the ones necessary for life. Below is an
extremely-abbreviated synopsis.
Hydrogen, which gave rise
to all the others; without its one proton and single electron nothing
else would exist. Combining with hydrogen, oxygen creates life’s
incubator, the molecule H2O. Oxygen atoms also readily mesh with other
elements to create “muscle filaments, membranes, hormones” and more.
Nitrogen atoms make up the majority of the atmosphere, but must be
“fixed” by bacteria on the roots of plants, or lightning bolts from the
sky, before it can be used by us. Carbon dioxide, a waste product for
animals, including us, is food for plants and plankton that then
rejuvenate the atmosphere by expelling oxygen.
As you read “Your Atomic
Self,” you’ll learn the source of all the elements we ingest including:
carbon, calcium, iron, sodium, and potassium. And you’ll start thinking
about the world on the atomic level, as you picture hydrogen atoms
dancing on your hair, iron coursing through your blood, and the sodium
atoms in your tears. In addition, you’ll learn the correct answer to
that childhood question, “Why is the sky blue?”
With trillions and
trillions of atoms making up our bodies, it’s difficult to grasp the
size and structure of any given atom. Stager uses common objects to
demonstrate that there’s a lot of empty space between the nucleus of the
atom, where the protons and neutrons reside, and its orbiting electrons.
Using the oxygen atom as an example, he writes, if the nucleus was the
size of a raspberry, “the negatively charged electrons that encircle it
would orbit the berry from about two hundred yards.” Think, a raspberry
in the center, and the length of two football fields to the outer orbit,
and somehow the emptiness of an atom can be visualized.
Then Stager explains the
tasks performed by the mitochondria within our cells. You begin to
understand how we are a compilation of new and recycled atoms. Next, he
tackles a subject few of us wish to think about – death. His explanation
is far from morbid, it truly helps us understand why death is a
necessary part of nature’s complex system.
With memorable examples,
the author shows how the atomic makeup of the atmosphere, and our
bodies, has changed over a short period of time. In 1950, there were
“312 parts per million of carbon dioxide” in the atmosphere, by 2013
that level reached “400 ppm.” Stager refers to a study by the “Scripps
Research Institute” to show why, what looks like a small increase to us,
is actually extremely significant; when CO2 levels increase, oxygen
levels decrease.
He goes a step further,
pointing out that even the composition of our bones and teeth has
changed as the result of pollution and nuclear testing after World War
II. Read how the tell-tale evidence of both are left behind in tree
rings, and will be there for archeologists to find should they unearth
our remains in the future.
Why does it matter
whether or not we understand the elements that keep us living and
breathing? People certainly existed just fine for centuries without any
scientific knowledge. But as Stager explains, we have reached a point in
history where our technology, combined with our vast population, (7.3
billion and counting), has become “a force of nature on a geological
scale.” Human activity is reshaping the earth and atmosphere.
On the up-side, our
carbon emissions may now be preventing the next ice age. While that
sounds like good news to me, the story has a flipside. A tipping point
exists where increased temperatures, combined with atmospheric
pollution, will cause coastlines around the world to be flooded,
limiting the available space for our rapidly increasing population.
The gadgets we can’t live
without can hardly be created without producing some toxic waste. Yet,
who isn’t looking forward to more work-saving devices in the future? So
if humanity is going to continue to advance, today’s high school
students face the daunting task of inventing new technologies, while
also solving these environmental problems. But in order to do so,
science must become a significant part of their lives.
That’s why I urge parents
and teenagers to read and discuss this book. Who knows? “Your Atomic
Self” may ignite the spark needed to create the next Einstein, Carl
Sagan or Bill Gates.